


Things are never quite the way they seem

by acertainperson



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gay Will Byers, Internalized Transphobia, Trans Maxine Mayfield, Transphobia, alternate season 2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:26:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26530606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acertainperson/pseuds/acertainperson
Summary: When Max moves to a new town, he quickly finds new friends. What they don't know however is that he is not actually a boy. Infact, neither does anyone else. What started as a playing along to a misunderstanding however begins to feel more and more real.(Note: Some terminology used in this piece is outdated and may even be considered insulting by some people nowadays. However, i chose to go with historical accuracy over political correctness. The piece is set in the 80s people, it should read like that aswell)
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Mayfield & The Party
Kudos: 8





	1. The new guy in town

Max wasn't exactly happy about the prospect of moving into Hawkins, Indiana. She had been a city girl her entire life, and now, she found herself moving to a new place. At least it was the start of summer holidays there, so that was one good thing. That way, she could at least make friends for now. Max's appearance really wasn't out of the ordinary for a girl her age, at least if you ignore her short, almost boyish hair. Something which was not helped by the fact that she was also very much a tomboy in more than one way. Infact, mistaking her for a boy was rather easy. She could probably convince someone she actually was a boy if she tried.   
  
Another good thing, she made a mental note of, was that at least, this town had itself an arcade, so that way, at least it would not be totally boring. The first night, she and her family were mostly busy moving boxes to be unpacked over the following few days, before ordering some takeout from a local pizza place, mainly due to the fact that so far, they had little in the way of groceries. Her step-dad, aswell as Billy, her new step-brother, were a pain. She had been prepared for that thus far. She did not like it, but she realized she would have to put up with it, at least for the time being. Maybe, she figured, they would become a bit less unbearable once the houses' furniture did not mainly consist of boxes. After dinner (pizza and coke being the sort of dinner she could get used to) she retreated into her room, proceeding to unpack what she could for that day.   
  
It was mostly clothes, as she figured those would be most necessary. Her skateboard was already placed onto the nearest wall, as it had come in handy at transporting some of the boxes, much to her protest. Max, having always been a tomboy, did not have much in the sense of feminine clothing. Not only did skirts and dresses tend to be rather uncooperative when it came to skateboards, she had always had a distaste for them. Wearing such clothes just felt weird to her. Almost as if she wasn't supposed to wear them. Luckily though, she rarely ever did, as she had more than enough other clothing.   
  
The day after, they were mostly concerned with unpacking everything else, and soon, Max's room looked at least a bit like home again. Her mom had also taken the time to buy some groceries and make some food now that they had mostly moved in. But of course, restless as she had always been, Max rushed to her room and collected her quarters. She knew exactly where she was headed. Maybe she could even make some friends while she was there. "Where are you headed Max?" asked her mom, as she was busy putting on her shoes, "Just a few streets down, to an arcade we drove by yesterday." She knew that her mom wouldn't complain. "Well then, have fun sweetie." She replied, and such, she was off.   
  
Once inside, the arcade turned out to be pretty much what they had expected it to be. Sure, a bit small, but overall, an arcade. Trying to find her bearings, she soon heard the familiar sound effects of her favourite game, Dig Dug. Following the sounds, she eventually encountered a group of boys standing around the machine, 4 in total, the one playing included, with the other three busy cheering him on. Starting from the left, one of the boys had smooth, if a bit wavy, dark hair, not much unlike what she had, except her hair was red, and was wearing a simple grey shirt with a few stripes on it. The one in the middle wore a similar shirt, but his hair was a light brown, and he had a bowl cut. The one on the right had a slightly lighter shade of brown to his hair, but with a lot more curls, aswell as wearing a yellow shirt depicting the periodic table, an a red white and blue cap. It appeared to her as if his body was a bit weirdly proportioned. His shoulders sloped downwards unusually far, and his facial structure seemed a bit odd. If she was right about which voice was whose, he also had a lisp. Maybe those were all related? Who knows. The one playing, finally, was a dark skinned boy, his hair being very short and shaven in shape. It appeared to her as if the boy was about to claim the group record, however, he failed to do so, though it seemed like he had gotten close. "Very impressive score boys." she told them, "Wanna bet that i can beat it?".   
  
The boys turned around to her. She enjoyed their faces as they looked at her and realized they had never seen her before. "Yeah right," said the black boy, "Imma be very impressed if you can get close to them." Challenge accepted, she figured. The boys would just have to wait and see what he had in store for them. "Is that a challenge?" she asked them, teasingly, "Well, whose records do i have the honor to smash then?" "My names Lucas," he said, "But Dustin holds the current record here." he gestured at one of the other boys, the one with curly hair, who shot her a grin. She could tell now why it was that he had a lisp. He lacked a number of teeth, and those he had were all over the place. No wonder he couldn't pronounce any s-sounds right, that ought to be near impossible for him. "And who are you then?" Lucas asked. "Just call me Mad Max." she told him, before punching a quarter in.  
  
By now, Max had probably spent hundreds of dollars on Dig Dug, so the first few levels of the game were a breeze. Her score counter quickly went up, first breaching 10 thousand, then 20, then 50, before moving up into the hundreds. At first, the boys were unimpressed, but as she racked up points, their excitement got bigger. She didn't notice this much, however, as she was in the flow. Soon, she reached 450 thousand points, Lucas especially getting more anxious. She could tell she was closing in on his record. At around 520 thousand points, Lucas let out a frustrated groan, as he realized that his record had just been toppled. Some 20 thousand points later, Dustin let out much the same reaction, until she messed up at about 580 thousand points. "Told ya." she said, "Easy to beat." Dustin and Lucas were still in a daze, when one of the other two boys spoke up. "So, Max, is that your name then?" he asked, "Is that short for anything?" She shook her head. They really didn't need to know its short for Maxine, as she didn't like, or for that matter, go by that name anyway.  
  
"Im Mike," the same boy introduced himself, "Short for Michael." "And i'm Will." the last of the four boys, the one with the bowlcut, said, with a weak smile. Something seemed off about him, but Max wasn't able to pin it down. "So how come we havn't seen you around here before?" asked Dustin. This was a legitimate question of course. She did just break their records on home turf. "I moved here." she told them, "Just yesterday. My first game here." They seemed nice enough, for sure, maybe she could become number 5 in their group. That is, if they even had room for a fifth person. Letalone a girl. Then again, she didn't feel like the boys suspected her of being a girl. It would not be the first time anyone mistook her for a boy, infact, maybe she would play along for a change, now that noone was there to correct them, just for the fun of it. She would tell them at the end of the day, of course, but for now, she would play along.   
  
"You rock Max." said Dustin, after coming to his senses, "That was some top level play." "Why thank you very much." she snickered, "Must've taken you a while to get to that record. But at least you have reason to push it further now." "Oh you better bet, i won't leave that record standing for long!" he said. "And neither will i." Added Lucas, seeming eager to break Max' new record now. "So, who wants to take the first shot at beating his record?" His. The boys actually seemed to believe that she, too, was a boy. Now she definitely had to play along. It was just too tempting. Mike started the first attempt. Max had seen on the scoreboard that the four boys were about equal in skill, so she figured Mike would certainly be able to give them a run for their money, even if she didn't think she would be under pressure by him anytime soon. They each took turns at the game, but while the scoreboard did change a few times, not even Dustin, at the time the best of the four boys, could match her, though in his vigour, he did manage to come about 20 thousand points closer, which did still leave another 30 to catch up. Max in the meantime had more fun watching them play and bicker, when her watch beeped.   
  
"Wait, its 8 already?" she asked, wondering how she had managed to spend that much time in the arcade just then. "Sorry y'alls, but i gotta dash, my step-dads gonna kill me if im not home soon." "No problem." said Dustin, "Maybe you could meet again another day, like-" "Before you say it, no." Mike interrupted, "He's not joining the Party!" "Just give him a chance man!" Dustin replied. "Um, what kind of party are we talking about?" she asked them, "Dungeons and Dragons, you ever play it?" he asked, "Ive heard of it, but-" "Well we're in the middle of a campaign anyway." Mike interrupted again, though he realized the rest of the boys were on Dustins side of the argument, "We only started!" Lucas broke in, "Im sure we can figure something out for him!" "Like i said, "I really gotta dash." she reminded them, "Maple Street, end of the Cul-de-Sac!" Yelled Dustin, "3pm sharp, meet ya there!" She just took that as an invitation, before leaving the place. It was only on her way home that she realized she had forgotten to tell them she was actually a girl, but she didn't have the time to turn around. Besides, this had been fun, maybe she could keep it up a bit longer.


	2. You cant see Max!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and the Party start warming up to each other. Max's egg starts cracking.

3pm sharp, Maple Street, at the end of the cul-de-sac. That is what Dustin had said, even though Mike hadn't exactly seemed very enthusiastic about it. However, she decided that she would show up anyway. She was aware that they still thought she was a boy, but surely, she would find the time to tell them. She couldn't wait to see their faces once they found out. That said, there were some slight problems with the plan of theirs, the main issue being that she had never ever played D&D before. She had no idea how the game actually worked. Surely, they could teach her that part though, right?

After enduring the comments about her looks from the likes of Billy, who thought she looked way too much like a boy, she was out for the morning. She had packed some money, just in case. She didn't know if theyd be ordering pizza or anything, but she did know that should they do so, she at least wanted to chip in a bit. It was the least she could do for them after they had just taken her in like that. Well, except for Mike, he needed a bit more convincing yet. But surely, she could manage to convince him eventually. He seemed like a nice guy, at least at the times where he wasn't actively being a dick about something. After spending her morning training some more tricks on her skateboard, then returned for lunch, she skateboarded over to Maple Street, at the end of the cul-de-sac. It was almost 3pm when she arrived. Soon, the others came in. Lucas, she learned, lived right next door to Mike.

"Hey Max." he said, quickly walking over to her, "You ready for the game?" "Well, as ready as one can be for a game without even knowing how to play it, i suppose." she replied. "Worry not, for we shall teach you." he said jokingly, before continuing, "Really though, its not that hard to play once you get past all the numbers." "Theres a lot of numbers in the game then, i take it?" she asked. "Yeah, but its mainly for the purpose of giving everything structure." Lucas explained, "You can really do anything you want as long as your character could realistically do it. Youll see once we get to it."

Lucas led her down a stairwell into a basement. Their spot of playing, so she guessed, was probably a small table in the middle of the basement, crowded around which were 5 chairs. The basement itself looked like part workshop, part storage room. For some reason, it even included a pillow fort. Mike did not look excited to have her there, but appearantly, not enough so to say a word. Dustin and Will arrived soon after, just as her clock beeped. 3pm sharp. "Right, so everyones here i see." Mike said, "So, we should probably start with Max, since i assume you don't have a character yet." She nodded. "Right, so whos gonna help him then?" Mike asked, "We're a party aren't we?" replied Dustin, "So we should work together." Mike didn't say a word, but even he could, in all his stubbornness, not deny that Dustin was right. "I copied a blank character sheet earlier." Will said, "Just to start off."

"Thanks." she said, smiling at the boy, "Right, so lets roll your stats first." Dustin said, grabbing a dice, "Wait, you mean to tell me its random?" she asked. "Kinda," he replied, "You roll for your base stats, but how you distribute them is another matter. Plus your characters race has an influence on it, and you get to increase your stats a bit depending on your level. Its a lot of numbers, but once you wrap your head around it its actually pretty simple." The boys then proceeded to explain all sorts of things about classes, base stats, saving throws, skills, hit points, movement speed, and various other aspects of the game, filling out the sheet as they went along. It was hard to follow at times, mainly because everyone was talking all at once. Soon enough however, Max, the half-orc rogue was born. An unusual combination, sure, but there was a quirk to it. Where other rogues would use stealth, this ones strategy involved no stealth, and instead, intimidation, specifically, running at the enemies in question and shouting "YOU CAN'T SEE MAX!" at them, then hoping they would cower in fear before him and pretend like they did not see him.

As soon as they had made Max's character, their session began. The group of them found themselves in a tavern, when a messenger from a nearby town burst in, looking for any adventurers that could fight. Max was right on his feet, alongside Wills Cleric, Lucas' Ranger, and Dustins Bard. The four converged on the messenger, who told them about a group of bandits, who were busy terrorizing the town. Not only that, but these bandits were appearantly up to something sinister, well, besides their usual thievery. Out of a will to help for some, out of a will for gold for others (Well, really only Max), the four ended up teaming in order to find their lair and scrub the hideout clear from any bandits located inside. Any treasures they found on the way, such it was clarified, would be theirs to keep, much to all of their delight. Assuming, of course, that the group would be capable of splitting the treasures without anyone ending up with any more injuries than they had already endured, but that, she realized, would be a worry for another day.

The party headed into the dungeon, which, to the surprise of no one, really, turned out to be rather dark. “Right, I’ll light my lamp then.” Lucas started out. “You light your lamp, and the entire room is illuminated. It’s just the entrance to a cave, but part of it is sealed off with a wooden wall and door.” Mike described, “Seems the only way in is that door.” “Well then, I’ll go headfirst through the-” Max began, but Dustin interrupted her. “You should always check for traps before doing anything else in a room.” he said, “You never know what kinds of contraptions await you.” “Gotcha,” Max said, “So, I’m checking the room for traps.”

“You find nothing.” Mike said. “Alright, so NOW I’m heading through that door headfirst.” Certainly an unconventional way, but Max felt like Max the Rogue did not let such things as doors impede him much. She certainly wouldn’t. The party let out a small laughter. “Roll for strength.” Mike said. She picked up one of the d20s and rolled a 13. “13, right.” Mike said, “Combined with your strength bonus, that makes 14, so yeah, you crash into the door, headfirst, and the door breaks down on contact. You catch some splinters in the process, 1 damage.”

1 damage, though rogues didn’t tend to have terribly high HP, was not much of a loss at this point in the campaign. The Party now found itself in a room comprised of several crystal pillars, with lines of smaller crystals stretching out inbetween said pillars, though not all of them were connected, and the connections that were there were only between neighbouring pillars. There was also a door made from metal, one that looked way too heavy for them to open manually or headbutt through, which were connected to the crystals aswell.

“I check for traps.” Dustin volunteered. “No traps present.” Mike replied. “I touch one of the crystal pillars, the one right infront of the door.” said Max. “As you touch the pillar, the lines connected to it light up, as well as the crystals connected to those lines.” explained Mike. After a second of confused silence, Lucas spoke up. “I touch the pillar left of the one that Max just touched.” “As you touch the pillar, all the ones connected to it light up, except for the ones that are glowing already, those go dark again.” Mike said. “Oh, I think I know what kind of riddle this is.” Will said, “We need to find a way to light all the crystals up, don’t we? You don’t happen to have a diagram of how the pillars are aligned for us do you?” He felt like that would be a critical bit of information in order to solve this problem.

Mike gave them a diagram, depicting the arrangement of the pillars, from behind the GM screen. The group proceeded to lean over the diagram, trying to figure it out. They took their sweet time bickering back and forth about it, until they agreed on a solution, and ended up entering it into the crystals. “You hear the metal door grinding open, as all the crystals light up.” Mike announced, and the Party continued on to the next room. Instead of traps, however, this one had another surprise waiting. “As you enter the room, you’re ambushed from both sides by… A BAND OF GOBLIN SOLIDERS!” By no means the dangerous enemies Mikes narration ended up making them out to be, but this was the early part of the campaign.

“What do you all do?” Mike asked. “I pull my dagger and let out a battle scream to intimidate the goblins in front of us.” Max said, “I grab my bow and notch an arrow.” said Lucas, “I grab my staff and ready myself to cast combat spells.” Will added, “And I take my pan flute and start playing a battle song to support my allies.” “Alright, Max, roll for intimidation.” A 10. By no means a high roll, but with her modifiers on intimidation, certainly enough to scare the goblins. “Alright, a 10, give us your best roar then.” Mike said. “Like, right here and now?” she asked. “Nah, over in Lucas` house. Where else did you think I was talking about?”

Max took a deep breath, before letting out a roar that she was certain had made some neighbour call the police. If not for the scream, then certainly for the volume. She was afraid she had just blown her cover, sounding maybe a bit too feminine, but based on the boys’ faces, it must’ve certainly been quite the shocker. Lucas even let out a bit of a scream himself.

“You, Lucas, scream like a little girl.” Max chuckled. The boys were all stunned for a second, but they ended up laughing. “Right, where were we?” Mike continued on, “Oh yeah, your attacks. Right, Max, your blood-curdling battlecry lets the goblins cower in fear, none of them are ready to fight. You all have free reign over them.” The group easily dispatched the monsters, who were, afterall, cowering on the ground with fear, before they proceeded into the next room.

The next few rooms were not too interesting. A few enemies, some riddles, the likes, but nothing amazing, though there was a particularily brutal moment when Wills cleric cast a knockback spell on an orc warrior, which, possibly unbeknownst to Will, ended up catapulting him into a spike trap nearby. “Ouch.” was the only thing she could manage, as Mike described that poor guys fate. Max in the meantime was busy dashing around the place, stabbing at any enemy that happened to have the misfortune of coming near her character.

Shortly after, they arrived at a big door, that was very obviously the hideout of the bandit chief. “As you enter the room,” Mike told them, “You see a throne infront of you. On that throne sits a big orc in battle armor. His skin, at least what you see of it, is covered in scars, and he is no doubt battle hardened. “So you are the intruders who have been causing a stir in here?” he bellows, “It seems I have to do everything myself.” The orc rises up from his throne, before grabbing his battle axe, easily big enough to decapitate all of you in one swing, and charging you. Lucas, what do you do?” “I fire an arrow at the orc.” “And you Will?” “I cast knockback to stop him in his charge, or at least knock him off balance.” “Dustin?” “I play a song to boost the party’s strength.” “And you Max?” “I roll and try to chop at the axe’s shaft.”

They each did their rolls. “Lucas, your arrow hits the orc right in the chest, however, it harmlessly bounces off his armor, doing no damage.” Mike said, “Will, you cast knockback on the orc. He stumbles, but doesn’t fall. However, he did lose speed. Dustin, your song does it’s work.” Then was Max’s turn to roll the dice. She didn’t see the result, but from the faces of the group, she could tell that, though what was about to happen was probably going to be amusing, she had definitely rolled a 1.

“Max, your attack on the shaft fails. The orc hits you at high speed, knocking you into the nearest wall.” The damage from that attack alone had been enough to more than halve her remaining HP, but Max the Rogue was a fighter. Well, not the class, but still. “The orc gets ready to swing his axe at you, as he closes the distance further. What do you do?” “I fire an arrow at the orcs eyes in order to take his sight.” Said Lucas. “And I play a melody to boost his aim.” Dustin added. “I cast a healing spell on Max.” A nice gesture on Wills side, for sure. “And you Max?” Mike asked. “I get right back up and try to stab the orc in the knee.” she said, and it was time to let the dice decide over fate yet again.

“Lucas, your arrow hits the orc dead center in the left eye, thanks to Dustin’s melody. The orc bellows in pain, but is unperturbed and continues his charge. Will, your healing spell succeeds. Max receives 5 HP.” Mike said. Now it was Max’s turn to roll again. And roll she did. A 20, to be precise. Talk about a comeback. “Max, you stab your dagger right inbetween the orcs armor, hitting his knee. He roars in his agony, as he collapses. He tries to get up, but is unable to because of his knee. He shouts after you, threatening to end you all, but there’s little he can do.” “I take my dagger and deal a final blow.” Max said, “Stab to the neck.” “You stab the orc in the neck.” Mike said, “After your final blow, he roars one last time before his breathing stops.”

The group then proceeded to loot the place for anything worth keeping. Max ended up receiving a poisoned dagger, certainly a weapon she could use. “Well, what can I say, this was fun.” she said, and even Mike seemed to have warmed up to her by now, “We should do this again.” “Don’t worry Max,” said Will, “You’ll have more than enough time to play this game with us.” After they all said their goodbyes, Max skateboarded home. She was surprised just how much time had actually passed.

When she laid in her bed, she reflected on the day. Playing D&D was certainly fun, but there was something else. It was almost like escapism. Forgetting the real world around you, immersing yourself in another world, one where you could be anyone you wanted? That sounded like a great way to spend your time, especially because of how Max had always felt that something was off about this world. Though, she didn’t feel that way when she was around the boys. Sure, she was lying to them, pretending to be a boy herself, but-

Wait, was it that? Did she feel better around the boys because she wanted to be one? An absurd thought. Surely, this wasn’t possible, was it? She had heard about transvestites, but never about one who started out female. But, if it worked one way, why not also the other? Besides, from what she could tell, she was doing a great job convincing the boys she was one of them. But that didn’t have to mean she wanted to actually BE a boy, right? She decided to just sleep. Surely, she would stop thinking about it tomorrow morning once she had a good night of sleep about it, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am aware that the term transvestite isnt politically correct anymore. Like i noted in the description though, some of the language used in the story is, because this is a story about a 12 year old trans guy in the 80s figuring himself out. Therefore, i think the wording should fit the setting.


End file.
